Dave, you can go to the county courthouse in your birth county, or call them and sign a release to get a new one. My mom had to do that. My info came from our travel agent via Holland America and the airlines.

I think "original" is being misused here. A replacement birth certificate issued by a state agency is a copy. But it has the full force of an original. The copy needs to have some sort of official seal. A copy with a notary stamp, for example, won't cut it.

And some states don't use raised seals. My birth certificate is a copy issued by New York. It has a seal that is an ink stamp. It was good enough to get a passport.

Thanks Dave. We thought it was another original, but you are right. There can only be 1 original. To IslandCruz, I had never heard of the credit card thing before. I just know that after 1-1-08 you have to have a PASSPORT no matter what. They told us on the ship that the birth certs will not be good enough after the end of the year. In fact, they gave us paperwork to apply for the passport.

TO LHT28 - Thanks for the info. That is interesting. I have never seen one. Sure would be easier to keep than the big paper birth cert they give us down here. Im just sorry that some other country has ruined it for those of us in Canada and the US with making us have to have passports. I live in Minnesota and now to just go to Thunder Bay I have to have a pastport after the end of the year. Thanks for responding. Have a good one!